CEO Blog

Hi everyone, The results of Syncsort’s annual “State of the Mainframe Survey” are in and, as usual, the report contains plenty of insights into what executives, systems programmers, application analysts, database administrators, security professionals and other folks are thinking about and planning for their Big Iron. I encourage you to read the report, or if…

Bob Fake, CEO, InfoSec IT security is about more than just making sure your security is at its best once a year and forgetting about it. Today’s threats are always changing, and there are increasingly sophisticated ways for systems to be breached. New applications are constantly being implemented, employees come and go, and general security…

Hi everyone, Like most people, I like to spend some time reflecting on what I learned in the past year as a way to prepare for the start of a new one. Being in mainframe security, I like to stay on top of what’s going on both locally and globally in the cybersecurity landscape. I…

Bob Fake, CEO, InfoSec Real-time event monitoring is crucial to staying on top of what’s happening in your IT infrastructure. To that end, most organizations have Security Information Event Management (SIEM) platforms in place. SIEM captures the millions of events that are being logged daily from PCs, routers, switches, hubs, firewalls and other network infrastructure…

Hi everyone, You don’t have to be a CIO to know that cybersecurity is one of the biggest challenges facing both public and private enterprises today. It was even mentioned as an issue in the recent presidential debates. Yet you probably work with someone who still hasn’t received the memo. You know who I’m talking…

Bob Fake, CEO, InfoSec The mainframe is just like any other part of an IT infrastructure in that it needs to be protected from security breaches. Nothing is exempt, and nothing should be left vulnerable so that it may be compromised. However, when it comes to security, mainframes are often treated differently from the rest…

Hi everyone, Imagine you just moved into a new house in what you thought was a safe, quiet suburb. When your next-door neighbor extends a hand over your shared fence to introduce himself, you notice the home security sign on his lawn. You ask, “What’s the history of break-ins in this neighborhood?” He answers matter-of-factly,…

Bob Fake, CEO, Infosec Mainframes are often perceived as being highly secure. That was certainly true when mainframes were largely standalone systems. But today, mainframes are connected to multiple other internal systems and to the outside world. This can render them as vulnerable to hackers as desktop PCs. And, with so much lucrative personal, financial…

With all the news stories about cyber attacks thought to originate in Russia, China and other foreign countries, it can be easy to forget about the devastation caused by insiders—careless or disgruntled employees or opportunistic third-party contractors hired by your IT department and entrusted with your company’s data in order to do their jobs. Think…

In today’s IT security infrastructure, there are usually two separate security monitoring systems: one for the mainframes, one for the open system. These two groups are essentially performing the same function—which is to monitor security and prevent cyber threats from taking place—and they generally don’t communicate as often as they should. Event management encompasses the…